Obviously, the resolution posts are all over the blogosphere this week. I thought long and hard about posting something different, but you know what? I’m not known for my creativity. So I’ll just jump on the bandwagon.

Actually, I have a slightly different approach to resolutions this year, that I’m sure I’ll only have in common with 50% of bloggers, so I guess that’s a bit original, eh?

The approach is this: keep working on last year’s resolutions. What’s the point of making new ones if I’m still struggling with the ones I made? Why should we just forget the past and start anew when in reality, the path to a “new you” shouldn’t be confined to 365 days.

Though I struggled with my 2010 resolutions, I truly did (and do) believe in them. So much so that I actually wrote them down and put them on my fridge way back in January. That paper is still there and serves as a daily reminder — and a kick in the pants — when I’m slacking.

So, let’s look at this blog post as a status update. A review of the resolutions set last year and a look ahead to 2011.

Early to bed, early to rise. I’m awful at the early to bed thing. I must put down the remote and get better at this. I simply must. There’s absolutely no reason for me to stay up to solely to watch old Seinfeld episodes. As for the morning thing, I did quite well with this the first partof 2010. Then the wheels came off the cliched wagon.

As far as looking ahead, some life changes may actually force this resolution this year. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll need to find a different source of motivation, which could be a challenge. Stay tuned.

Work out more/Do more yoga. I aimed for 3x/week at the gym and 2x/week at the yoga studio and sort of succeeded. The wagon ended up in the ditch whenever work got busy. Hence why being a morning person and getting back to morning workouts would be ideal. As for yoga, I was relatively successful. The last few months, I’ve been back to twice a week, up from weekly or every-other-week early on in the year.

Looking ahead, I realize I need to start making yoga a routine and sticking to it. I need to stop allowing other things to interfere. I may also need a work out buddy!

Blog more. After three years of being around here, I’ve reconciled myself to the fact that it ain’t gonna happen. You’re just going to have to get used to me only sporadically clogging up your reader!

Eat better: low carb/sugar, more fruits & veggies. Again, some success. I’m still heavy on the pasta, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing, especially if I get better at portion control and mixing veggies IN the pasta. As for the fruits/veggies; I’ll eat them as long as they’re in my fridge. And since I grocery shop every 2-3 weeks, I only end up having fresh produce at home a few days a month.

Looking ahead, I realize I need to get back to more of a weekly grocery habit to keep fresh food in the house. Barring that, not much will change.

Make more out of my weekends, including church. I was rocking this at first, but now it’s sporadically successful. The trouble really is DD and our penchant for sleeping in way past what is acceptable for 30 year olds. When he’s not around, I’m far more likely to get up and out the door for an 8:30 yoga class or an 11:30 mass. When he is around, I’m far more likely to cuddle because he’s just so damn cuddle-able.

Looking ahead, I really think that in order for this to be fully successful, we’re going to have to make it a joint goal. While I know he’d like to change his ways, we’re both facing the same challenges with loving the bed more than the world outside the bed, so I don’t know if it’ll happen.

So there you have it. Time to embark on Year Two of my ongoing resolution to be better and rock the world.

One last observation. I’ve always felt that I’m a creature of habit and require routine to survive. Looking back on 2010 and the years prior, I’m realizing that I’m actually quite opposite. I tend to have a general idea of what I want to do in a day or week, but will quickly adjust it based on others — like DD, friends, family, etc.

Most of my resolutions would be easily achieved if I simply set a routine — and stuck to it. If I told myself that I could not work late on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that I could go to yoga. If I told DD that I simply couldn’t cuddle with him on Sunday mornings because I needed to go to church instead. If I told friends I couldn’t meet up for a spontaneous dinner because I had to go to the gym first. Truly, TRULY, a routine would solve all my problems.

Sounds like you’ve got a rather good 2011 planned with these resolutions. I really adore how just about every resolution you made is in a ying/yang way. Give a little, get a little. East less carb/sugar, eat more fruits & veggies. Go to bed early, feel better in the morning (and possible make it to the gym!).

I’ve been blogging formally since 2002, and I still feel I was more productive in terms of “real writing” back when I first started. 2003-2005, big blogging years. Oh well.

Resolutions are good, always good, but be sure to put actual step goals in place so that you end the year making sure that you did them. I always find resolutions to be a bit vague. That’s why I always make concrete goals I want to reach instead.

Like, write one to two posts a day, or schedule ahead when busy.
Sign 2-3 client gigs this month.

I saw a girl who made resolutions for each month. It was creative.

I like that you’re not “lose weight!” because that’s a pie crust promise. We should just resolve to be better to our bodies and losing weight is usually a result.